As the first week of 2023 free agency wound down, the Detroit Lions landed what looked like a steal. C.J. Gardner-Johnson tied for the league lead with six interceptions the season before with the Philadelphia Eagles, and he seemed like just the right mix of skill and personality to be a tone-setter in the Detroit secondary.
But sometimes things just don't go as planned, and it's no one's fault. Gardner-Johnson missed a big chunk of the 2023 season due to a torn pectoral, playing in a total of six games including the playoffs.
It became clear the Lions would not be re-signing Gardner-Johnson in 2024, and he ended up getting a three-year deal to go back to the Eagles. So all's well that ends well, right?
Not so much. After going back to the Eagles, Gardner-Johnson decided to take to social media to criticize Lions fans and most of his former Lions teammates.
That would be the end of it then, right? Well..
Gardner-Johnson had a nice season with Philadelphia last year, tallying six interceptions and he was a top-15 graded safety by Pro Football Focus. The Eagles also went to the Super Bowl again, beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the rematch of Super Bowl LVII.
During Super Bowl week, prompted by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press asking him about his year with the Lions, Gardner-Johnson took the opportunity to get some things off his chest.
"It was hell,” Gardner-Johnson told Birkett, regarding his season in Detroit. “I got lied to, so it was, whatever. I got told, respectfully, I was going to get brought back and didn’t get brought back. And offseason went real for me, signing back here because I wasn’t really tripping on it. It all worked out."
”Truthfully, like in Detroit it was hell,” he said. “I went there just to — OK, when I got hurt I was like, ‘(Expletive) it.’ Truthfully. That's why I didn't go rehab there."
”I was on a one-year deal, so it was like there was no point unless they were really bringing me back,” Gardner-Johnson continued. “By the time midseason came and I was getting healthy, they wasn’t trying to extend me, I’m like, ‘I'm cool.’”
Gardner-Johnson wanted the Lions to sign him to a contract extension while he was rehabbing a significant injury, and he chose to do so away from the team facility because they wouldn't extend him after he played two games for them. No team would have signed him to a contract extension in that circumstance, but that logic seemed to elude him.
Beyond that, being happy to be at the Super Bowl for the second time in three years was apparently too much for Gardner-Johnson.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson is not happy about another former team parting with him
This offseason, just one year into that aforementioned three-year deal, the Eagles surprisingly traded Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans. The return for Philadelphia in said trade, guard Kenyon Green and a pick-swap, landed as very underwhelming.
Gardner-Johnson has said plenty this offseason about the Eagles trading him, expressing "shock" and feeling "highly disrespected". But he was clearly not seen as a core player over the longer haul in Philadelphia, for any number of reasons.
On an episode of The Pivot podcast released on Tuesday, co-host Ryan Clark asked Gardner-Johnson why he was no longer in Philadelphia.
"Scared of a competitor," Gardner-Johnson said. "Simple as that."
Asked what he meant by that, Gardner-Johnson said, "You can't program a dawg."
Gardner-Johnson pointed to his ejection from the Week 16 game against the Washington Commanders as a turning point that may have led to his exit, as he felt he wasn't supported by his coaches. He also feels he was blamed for causing a fight during a postseason practice.
"We had a little scrum at practice," Gardner-Johnson said. "Nothing, just offense versus defense, but who's the culprit of it? Me. I guess, because we're competing. Well, you tell me the period is live. You're telling us not to compete during a live period, but it's a live period, and we're getting ready for a playoff game?"
What Gardner-Johnson has said about the Eagles trading him has hit a similar tone to his complaints about his year with the Lions. If the Texans decide to move on after one season, he will surely use any platform he gets next offseason to extend his scorched Earth tour.
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